Charles A. Ragus Award for 2012 the Best Original Research Paper published in the Journal of American College of Nutrition. 54th Annual Conference of the American College of Nutrition, November 16, 2013.

Government Researcher Overseas Scholarships for 2002-2004, Seoul Metropolitan Government, Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs, Korea

Visiting Professors/Scientists

Research

My long term research interest is in the area of dietary and lifestyle factors and their impact on chronic diseases with emphasis on prevention and risk reduction. At UConn, I have developed several new research projects with focus on the relationships between dietary antioxidants/functional foods and chronic disease risks and biomarkers. Through a project supported by the American Heart Association, my research team has documented the baseline dietary Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC) of the U.S. population and developed a dietary TAC database of the U.S. diet for future applications in human antioxidant research and also validated this investigative protocol by establishing relationships between estimated dietary antioxidant intakes of U.S. adults and the concentrations of antioxidants in blood and urine. From this study, we established that dietary TAC is inversely associated with CVD risk factors such as serum homocysteine and C-Reactive Protein (CRP) concentrations. This finding indicated that dietary TAC is a useful tool in human clinical and intervention studies for assessing dietary antioxidant status and predicting plasma anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory responses. Another project, funded by the Donaghue Foundation, further validated the concept under different conditions. Another project, funded by Pepsi Co Inc., was designed to investigate the impact of orange juice consumption on micronutrient adequacy, macronutrient and energy intakes, weight status and body composition, and bone health in U.S. population.

One of my research areas is on the impacts of dietary behaviors on cancer risk. I have just completed a project entitled "Does Dietary Antioxidant Predict Prostate Cancer Aggressiveness?" as PI. This project was funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Nutritional Epidemiology Program. This project enabled me to investigate the role of antioxidants in prostate cancer aggressiveness. In this study with 2,000 African American (AA) and Caucasian American (CA) men who had been recently diagnosed with prostate cancer, my research team found that greater antioxidant intake was associated with a reduced risk of advanced prostate cancer and that this protective role of antioxidants may be through reducing oxidative stress. I also received funding from NCI as a Co-PI for a project entitled “Psoralen and Melanoma.” For this project, in collaboration with Dr. Eunyoung Cho at Brown Alpert Medical School and Harvard NHS and HPFS cohort team, my laboratory is analyzing furanocoumarins (psoralens) and their metabolites in plasma and urine samples from the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS). We will also develop a psoralen food database by analyzing the components in foods and ultimately examine if psoralen intake from diet is associated with melanoma risk in these cohorts. As a supplemental project, we are also conducting a pilot absorption and excretion kinetic study of furocoumarins in grapefruits.

Recently I received funding from USDA AFRI Seeds Grant Program with a project titled “Blackcurrant Prevents Osteoporosis Associated with Aging by Inhibiting Formation of Advanced Oxidation Protein Products.” For this project, we are currently planning to conduct animal and cell studies in collaboration with Dr. Sun-kyeong Lee at UConn Health Center on Aging. My research team is also conducting a project entitled “Contribution of Egg Consumption to Improving Nutrient Adequacy and Reducing Cardiovascular Disease Risk in U.S. Adults.” This project is funded by the Allen Foundation and we are conducting secondary data analysis using NHANES datasets for this project.

My future plan is to continue and expand my research in the area of dietary antioxidants and their health benefits in individuals as well as in the U.S. population. This will lead to a better understanding of the nutritional basis for the prevention and treatment of diet-associated chronic diseases and hopefully lead to the establishment of effective evidence-based dietary strategies and guidelines for the public, especially in relation to CVD and cancer.

Grants

Blackcurrant Prevents Osteoporosis Associated with Aging by Inhibiting Formation of Advanced Oxidation Protein Products. National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). $150,000 for December 2015 – December 2017Role in project: Principal Investigator

Evaluation of Total Antioxidant Capacity as a Dietary Tool for Assessing Antioxidant Defense Status, Inflammation, and Diabetes Risk in a Subsample of Korean Adult Population. Korean Federation of Science and Technology (KOFST) Societies Brain Pool Program for Outstanding Oversea Scholars. $45,000 for January 2016 – August 2016

Contribution of egg consumption to improving nutrient adequacy and reducing cardiovascular disease risk in U.S. adults. Allen Foundation. $43,193 for July 2015 – June 2017Role in project: Principal Investigator

Bioavailability of Furocoumarins in Grapefruits: A Pilot Absorption and Excretion KineticStudy. University of Connecticut Research Foundation Research Excellence Program. $24,963 for June 2015 – December 2016

Role in project: Principal Investigator

Study of the Changes in Furocoumarin and Its Metabolites in Human Blood and Urine after Grapefruit Consumption: Pilot Study funded by Brown Medical School $4,500Role in project: Principal Investigator

Identification of Anthocyanin Composition of Berries and Their Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Properties. USDA Hatch Grant, University of Connecticut. $119,120 for October 1, 2012 – September 30, 2017Role in project: Principal Investigator

Dose Dietary Antioxidant Predict Aggressiveness of Prostate Cancer? National Institutes of Health $160,313 for March 2012 – February 2015Role in project: Principal Investigator

The effect of chokeberry polyphenols on biomarkers of cardiovascular disease and antioxidant defenses in former smokers. Connecticut Department of Public Health Biomedical Research $417,076Role in project: Co-Principal Investigator (PI: Bolling B.)

Nutritional Evaluation of Orange Juice in American Diet. Pepsi Co. $85,496 for July 12, 2010 – December 31, 2011Role in project: Principal Investigator

Total Dietary Antioxidant Capacity Associated with the Risks of Cardiovascular Disease Mediated by Oxidative Stress. Submitted to the American Heart Association Beginning Grant-in-Aid (BGIA) for Mid-Atlantic Affiliate. $130,819 for July 1, 2008 - June 30, 2010Role in project: Principal Investigator

Development of an Algorithm to Establish Total Antioxidant Capacity Database of US Population. Faculty Large Grant, University of Connecticut Research Foundation. $20,000 for January 1, 2009 – December 31, 2009Role in project: Principal Investigator

Validation of the total antioxidant capacity database of the U.S. population. USDA Hatch Grant, University of Connecticut. $69,000 for October 1, 2009 – September 30, 2012Role in project: Principal Investigator

Patrice A. Hubert, Terrence M. Vance, Ock K. Chun. Nutrient Adequacy of the U.S. population by Smoking Status: A Cross-Sectional Study with the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005-2010. University of Connecticut CNAR Graduate Student Research Forum, March 29, 2014

Na Young Park, Bong Han Lee, Young Jun Kim, Ock K. Chun, and Dae-Ok Kim. Daily per capita intake of total phenolics and antioxidant capacity from the most consumed fruits and vegetables in Korea. A Poster Presentation at 2010 International Symposium and Annual Meeting of The Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition, Daegu, Korea Octorber 27-29, 2010